The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson Essay

Both JFK and Johnson were highly famous, yet controversial presidents. Elected in 1960 as the 35th president of the US, 43-year-old John F. Kennedy was the youngest man to run in office. As president, Kennedy endured to tense Cold War strains in Cuba, Vietnam and elsewhere. He additionally drove a reestablished drive for an open administration and in the long run gave government support to the developing social equality development. On November 22, 1963 JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. His successor, Johnson, took over as president for a brief period of time. In spite of his noteworthy accomplishments in mainland US, Johnson's legacy was characterized by his inability to lead

President Andrew Johnson assumed office following Lincoln’s assassination. Johnson had his own ideas of Reconstruction and tried to take his own course of action in putting the Union back together following the Civil War. A series of bitter political quarrels between President Johnson and Radical Republicans in Congress over Reconstruction Policy in the South eventually led to his impeachment.

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938), was a highly talented and celebrated African American writer. He was a poet, songwriter, novelist, literary critic, and essayist. Along with his wide-ranging literary accomplishments, Johnson also served as a school principal, professor of literature at Fisk University, attorney, a diplomatic consul for the United States in Venezuelaand Nicaragua, and secretary for the NAACP from 1920-1930. He is considered one of the founders of the Harlem Renaissance and the first "modern" African American.

If John Wilkes Booth had not assassinated President Lincoln, it is probable the Radical Republicans in the House would have attempted to impeach him instead of Andrew Johnson.

Disagreements over Reconstruction lead to conflict in government and in the South. Andrew Johnson was the vice president of Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln was assassinated, Johnson became President and was in control of how Reconstruction would go. Johnson was originally from the South, he was pro-slavery, and he wanted a lenient plan for Reconstruction. While Congress was out of session, Johnson created and put into effect a Reconstruction plan. The opposite party to Johnson was the Radical Republicans. Radical Republicans were mostly from the North, they were anti-slavery, and they wanted a strict plan for Reconstruction. They had strong support from scalawags, carpetbaggers, and freedmen. Their main goal of Reconstruction was to be a total reconstruction of society to guarentee black people true equality. Another party in this battle was the Klu Klux Klan. The Klu Klux Klan used terror to stop African Americans from gaining any power. They would whip, torture, shoot, hang, and sometimes burn people alive. There were hundreds of lives lost during the 1868 election. This cause voting from African Americans to decline. After all of the disagreements about Reconstruction, the end of Reconstruction still failed to give African Americans rights.

1842. Still, he was able to support the abolitionist cause by becoming a conductor on the

After he graduated from Union College in 1854 he studied law. “His legal career in New York City was noted for two cases- one in which he secured the freedom of Negro slaves in New York who were traveling between two slave states, and another in which he secured equal rights for Negroes in seating and in service on city transportation.” He became involved with politics and became vice president in 1880, and sworn in as president in 1881. (Doren 14)

President Johnson was a very political man. He made lots of political decisions. Before he became president he was a senator. He was a senator for Texas, Texas was a southern state, they were very racist to african american people. As a senator he had to do what the people of Texas wanted him to do. So he had to pass a bunch of racist things in congress. Doc D

Douglass worked by being a famous orator preached against slavery and eventually joined the Republican Party where he worked with Lincoln and the party to promote and work toward the end of slavery. By 1858 Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were saying the same thing, preaching the same antislavery politics. Liberty or Slavery must become law of the land” (Oakes 5) Beyond Garrisonian newspapers, he began to embrace abolitionist politics and the idea that the Constitution supported slave emancipation. “Lincoln saw the Constitution as neither a clarion

They viewed him as a protector and a savior from foreign invaders. Jackson’s reputation as general was beginning to grow. So much in fact, it earned him another seat in the U.S. Senate, from 1823 to 1825, representing Tennessee.

Congress brought impeachment charges against Johnson in early 1868. It was the first impeachment of a U.S. president. Congress said Johnson violated the Tenure of Office Act and was obstructing the will of the people through an abusive use of veto power

President Bill Clinton began an affair with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern, in 1995. Later in 1998, when confronted with questions in regards to an affair with Monica Lewinsky, Clinton lied under oath in front of a grand jury. This, however, was not his first lapse in judgment as viewed by the Senate and Congress. The President and his wife, Hillary, found themselves involved in the Whitewater scandal beginning in 1978. In addition, during his campaign, Clinton was accused of draft dodging and rumors were spread in regards to his possible marriage infidelity. President Bill Clinton continued to find himself caught in the middle of scandals involving: Whitewater, Paula Jones, and most notably, Monica Lewinsky. The way Clinton handled

According to Document 1, Four states had taken away property requirements for voting, so that basically every white male could vote. Jackson appealed to these voters who were the “common man.” In addition to that, Andrew Jackson’s campaign slogan was, “Vote for us if you believe that the people should govern.” This evidence helps to explain why Andrew Jackson is a democratic supporter of the people because he was the definition of democratic with Jackson wanting social and political equality got all with his support of expanded suffrage and his campaign being about how the people should govern.

     Andrew Johnson, the 17th president, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina on December 29th, 1808. At the young age of three years old, Andrew’s father. Jacob Johnson passed away while drowning in an attempt to save the life of Editor Henderson from the Raleigh Gazette in 1812. Andrew’s mother, Mary Johnson, worked hard as a seamstress and washerwoman in order to support Andrew and his three brothers, and her; but she was unable to afford to send them to school. From the age of 14 until 16 he worked as an apprentice to a tailor but talked to his mother and stepfather about moving and starting a new life. He then opened a tailor shop in Greenville, Tennessee, married Eliza McCardle on May 17, 1827 and

Unfortunately, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre on April 14th, 1865, before he could put his plan to the test. After his death, several other political leaders emerged with plans in hand. These men were of the Republican Party, and they called themselves Radicals. The Radical Republicans that emerged in the political spotlight after Lincoln’s death had two main objectives to their cause. First, they were mad at the south, blaming them for the Civil War that had just ended. Ergo, they wanted to punish them and make them pay. Secondly, they wanted to help all of the near four million slaves who were now free men after the war. They felt these “men” needed protection, and it was their job to do so. There were three main Radical Republican leaders. These men were Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, and the formally inaugurated president Andrew Johnson.